New Artist Information

IMPORTANT: Please read the first section of this document BEFORE you register as a new artist.

New Artist Information (download PDF)
New Artist Information (download Word .doc)

Register as New Artist:

  1. Click on “Artist Registration” under the Log in/Register area (bottom of the right column)
  2. Fill in your Username. This MUST BE your first and last names, e.g. John Smith. It will also be used as your user account name and author name.
    NOTE: If you use your middle name, please fill in your first, middle and last names separated with a space, e.g. John Adam Smith.
  3. Fill in your Email address. Please be sure this is your correct address. If not, then the rest of the process will fail.
  4. We will receive notification of your registration and approve and activate your account as soon as possible. You will then receive an activation email from us containing your Username and Password.
  5. Once we have activated your account you need to complete your profile information. Proceed to the next step.

Completing Your Profile:

  1. Go to the website: http://www.semanticsartgallery.com
  2. Log in to the site using your Username and the Password sent to you in the activation email.
  3. After logging in you should be re-directed to your profile page. If not, please navigate to “Users -> Your Profile”.
  4. It is imperative that you fill in your First and Last names, e.g. First Name: John, Last Name: Smith. This name will be used as the artist’s page name in the system – e.g. http://www.semanticsartgallery/artists/john-smith
    NOTE: If you use your middle name, please fill in your first and middle name separated by a hyphen (not a dash) in the First Name field.
  5. At this point you may choose a new password. Type your new password in the two fields next to “New Password”.
    NOTE: I have no way of retrieving your password so choose carefully and remember to write it down somewhere safe.
  6. It is not necessary to fill in any other fields or change any settings as they are not used in the site. More to the point, please do not change anything else  ;-)
  7. Proceed to the next step below to create your artist page.

Gallery and Artist Page Creation:

Create Gallery:

  1. You must first create your gallery.
  2. Click on “Gallery” in the menu on the left.
  3. Click on “Add Gallery / Images”.
  4. Click on the “Add new gallery” tab at the top of the main content area.
  5. In the New Gallery field, type in your name separated by spaces, e.g. John Smith or John Adam Smith if using your middle name.
  6. Click on the blue “Add Gallery” button.

Add images to Gallery:

  1. In the “Upload Images” tab at the top of the main content click on the “Browse” button to locate the images you want to upload from your computer.
  2. To add multiple images click each image while holding down the Ctrl key (PC) or Apple key (Mac). Click “Open”. This will add the images to the download list.
    IMPORTANT NOTE: Regarding image sizes, resolution, etc. – The only limitation is that the images need to be .jpg or .jpeg files and less than 3MB each. As far as resolution or size, please upload the largest image possible (under the 3MB limit). The system takes care of any down-sizing. However, the system cannot up-size images. It is better to upload an image that is too large than too small. You can see if an image is too small when you click on it in your artist’s page. You can always delete and re-upload better images. See “Updating or adding new images to Gallery” below.

Regarding the number of images – The system is set up to display 8 images per page. You may choose to upload more but then the system will carry over any extra pictures to a second page. In this case, the absolute limit is 16 images. Once you have selected the images you want to upload you need to choose the name of the gallery – in the dropdown menu ‘Choose gallery’, choose the name of the gallery you created earlier. Click on ‘Upload images’ – blue button.
Be patient. The system uploads the images and then creates the different thumbnail sizes. The screen will dim and show a progress screen. DO NOT click cancel at this point. Once the ‘Creating thumbnails’ progress bar disappears and the screen returns to its normal appearance you may proceed.

Adding titles to your images:

  1. Click on Gallery -> Manage Gallery
  2. To find your own Gallery you can scroll through the pages top to bottom. If you do not find your gallery on the first page, you can click on the next page link (situated at both the top and bottom of the right side of the page).
  3. Click on the link to your Gallery
  4. Here you will see all the images that you uploaded in your gallery.
  5. It is important to add both titles and descriptions to your images. The title shows as the rollover text for each image while the description is shown underneath each pop-up in the artist’s page gallery. Try and keep your descriptions to a minimum – size, materials and a short description should suffice. The more text, the more it hides the actual pop-up image.
  6. Click on “Save Changes” when finished.

Changing the order of your images:

  1. Click on Gallery -> Manage Gallery
  2. To find your own Gallery you can scroll through the pages top to bottom. If you do not find your gallery on the first page, you can click on the next page link (situated at both the top and bottom of the right side of the page).
  3. Click on the link to your Gallery.
  4. Click on “Sort Gallery” (just above the images).
  5. Here you can drag and drop the images in the desired order.
  6. Click on “Update Sort Order”.
  7. To return to the gallery click on the “Back to gallery” button top right.

Deleting images:

  1. Click on Gallery -> Manage Gallery
  2. To find your own Gallery you can scroll through the pages top to bottom. If you do not find your gallery on the first page, you can click on the next page link (situated at both the top and bottom of the right side of the page).
  3. Click on the link to your Gallery.
  4. Hover over the image you want to delete and you will see a list of options. Click “Delete” to delete this image.
  5. You can always go back and add or update images. See “Add images to Gallery” above.

Crop thumbnails in Gallery:

Due to limitation of all Content Management Systems and the fact that images can be either portrait or landscape, I made the decision to force all thumbnails to a specific ratio to create a ‘cleaner’ look. This means that thumbnails are cropped with this ratio from the centre. This can look strange in some situations. If you find it absolutely necessary to crop or move the centre of the image to a different location, follow the instructions below.

  1. Click on Gallery -> Manage Gallery
  2. Roll over the image thumbnail you want to crop. Then click on “Edit thumb”. You will be presented with a full view of the image on the left and the cropped thumbnail on the right.
  3. Click and drag anywhere in the left image. You will see a ‘crop’ box appear. This box will remain proportional to the default ratio. Drag the handles of the box to the desired position. You can also drag within the box to move the cropped area. The new thumbnail will be updated on the right so you can see what you are doing. Once you are satisfied with the new cropped area, click on “Update”. If you are not happy you can always repeat this process.NOTE: It is often the case that the best cropping is the default cropping. Use with care. Cropping the thumbnails has no effect on the full-size image.

Creating  your artist page:

  1. Now you are ready to create the artist page.
  2. Go to Posts -> Add New. NOTE: Please only add one page!
  3. Type in your name in the field ‘Enter title here’ e.g. John Smith. IMPORTANT! If you decided to use your middle name in your profile, please include this in the title without hyphens, e.g. John Adam Smith. This is used as the artist’s name in the artist’s list page as well as the title in the artist’s page.
  4. Do not add any text at this point. Please proceed to the next step.

Add/Insert Gallery:

  1. Click inside the main text area. The cursor should blink in the top, left corner.
  2. Click on the “Add NextGEN Gallery” icon – top row, second from the right (next to the SD icon).
  3. In the “Gallery: Select or enter gallery” drop-down choose the name of your gallery.
  4. Click “Insert”. This will create a gallery code in the form of: [nggallery_ id=15]
  5. Immediately press enter to add spacing between your gallery code and the artist bio and/or statement.
  6. Please proceed to the next step to add your artist bio and/or statement.

Add Artist bio and/or artist statement:

  1. NOTE:Do not change or edit the text within the two square brackets – “[]“, e.g. [nggallery_ id=11] Also, leave a paragraph break under the gallery code.
  2. Type in or copy/paste your artist statement and/or bio under the gallery code.
    IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are copy/pasting from WORD, please do the following:

Once you have copied your text from WORD, click in the area where you want your new text to appear (anywhere under the gallery code e.g. [nggallery_ id=11]) and then click on the first icon in the second row above the edit Post area – the one with a small ‘T’ on it.

Paste your text in the new window and then click ‘Insert’. This strips out all of the crap that WORD creates!

You may also directly type in your new text as normal.

Please also note that the content is limited in formatting options. I am trying to keep the site clean and simple. I suggest using normal body text within paragraphs (use the Enter key to separate paragraphs).If you want to have headings in your text please DO NOT use the Bold button.  Use instead the Format dropdown (first drop down menu in the second row) and choose “Heading 3″. It is advised that you choose your headings after typing or copy/pasting all the text. Otherwise there is the chance that everything you type after the heading will take on the heading style.

You may however want to have bold text within a paragraph. Using the Bold button in this case is OK.

If you want to see what the text looks like in the site, click on “View Post” under the title. This will open a new window showing your post in the site. If you are satisfied with the changes, return to the back-end of the site and click on the blue “Update” button on the right. You must click on “Update” every time you want to commit to a change. Basically it is a “Save” button.